what's been happening ....

..... well

i've had my half birthday, forty-seven and a half on March 18th

blimey, I think I'll start celebrating quarter birthdays too, there must be benefits to getting older

at work, I saw 2 cases of Perthe's disease in 1 day, had  previously only read about this condition. The boy was fascinated with his Xray and asked if he could take it home. We needed to keep the XRay for his records but in a modern world he could take photos of his Xray with his mobile. He had been treated with antibiotics on and off for the past 6 years, unfortunately these do not help! And now there is a 3cm disparity in his leg lengths, his leg muscles are waisted on the affected side and his pelvis and body is asymmetrical. We walked over to another NGO who provide physiotherapy and prostheses, they agreed to make him a built up shoe.

The next day he came back to show us his new shoe and a bag of oranges to say thank you. A great shame he has this disability, good that we were able to offer some help and in the future he probably will need a hip replacement, a big operation which is usually not needed in the west, a different story in Laos.

Adri, who makes all the informative films for the hospital, is film-making once more so we all needed to be interviewed about achievements and plans! I always get stage fright and go completely blank. I sat down, heart racing, mouth dry, Adri did a screen test, he popped his head up and said 'Michael, can you go and wash your face'.

I can't bear it!

It was a busy week for street consultations with the expats. One who I've met a few time waved me down as I was cycling to work and launched straight into her back pain problem. Two had numb body parts, maybe there's something in the water. There's been gastritis discussed over dinner. A midnight visit to my house, they had abdominal pain, but I was fast asleep so didn't hear the door or their text messages. When I spoke to them in the morning they said they were speaking to me from beyond! Next day I was woken at 5 by my phone, one of my colleagues had abdominal pain, I went to his house, he was in agony, I thought he had bowel obstruction and we'd have to get him to bangkok. The only transport was a tuktuk, bugger I thought this is going to be a difficult ride but all the pot holes sorted his pain out!

The Laotian nurses at work have also been needing advice from rashes, toothache, headache, allergies, and my favourite moment was when Kongsai announced he had buttock pain and dropped his trousers and pants to show dr dorkeo and me.

I banned Ovaltine at work! Nestle advertise in Laos that Ovaltine is a complete meal, our staff consume vast quantities of the stuff. I suggested we needed to replace it with a healthier snack as a health organisation should be promoting health and try to avoid inducing diabetes. Everyone else thought I was being a baddie and that happy staff was the priority so I suggested we also provide cigarettes for break time! It turned into comedy argument but I was like a dog with a bone and now ovaltine will be replaced by fresh fruit everday!

My lovely friend Kathrin left Luang Prabang this week, I was sad. I love Kathrin, she's a very special lady, I will miss her warmth and kindness, her gentle energy is wonderful. We had lots of hugs, she's starting the next epoch with her husband in Sydney and I have inherited Cookie. He's been very noisy this week, he's missing Kathrin too! 

I've been house-siiting for Christine and John for the past fortnight, they live around the corner and have a beautiful home. To start I would go to put the lights on, water the plants and relax in the lounge, reading and looking at the stunning view of the mountains. Everyone was concerned they may be burgled and said I needed to sleep over, what about my house I may be burgled, "yes but their house and things are more valuable"! Anyway now I'm sleeping over, Christine asked which side of the bed, I had hoped hers but I've been on Dad's side.

Wendy returned for her holiday in Oz with a double pack of tim-tams, yummy, they didn't last long, ooh i need more chocolate.

At work we are planning the next steps, the ward will open in June/July. The management team decided to meet after work, my job was to host and get booze, easy, jenn and jess cooked, rod prepared the agenda, good team work and a productive session ending 11.30 pm.

We've have a volunteer form the UK who is setting up the laboratory and she was our guest speaker for the grand round this week.

I managed to split my time between the office and the clinic this week. I especially loved being in the clinic seeing patients with the Laotian doctors, one boy wanted to hold my hand as we walked down the corridor, sweet. I'm enjoying getting to know the Laotian doctors idiosynchrosies, they're great, I think we are slowly making progress